Orsus
by Forth Eorlingas
Summary: An original Zelda fic
1. Prologue

A quick note on Geography (seriously, its quick)

Since this fic is an incredibly loose zelda fic (I almost just placed Hyrule into my own world), some of the Geography changes. Since allot of it changes in the game, too, I didn't do much there. But where the stuff is in my Hyrule doesn't matter.

The world in which Hyrule exist is almost split in half. The split is because of a large and titanic mountain range, known as the Iaur mountains. It is so high, long, wide, and thick, that no known man has survived a journey through them. There is an old pass through, several weeks march on a road from Hyrule, where the Kingdoms on opposite sides used to use when they wished to meet each other. However, the path became dangerous, and the Western Kingdoms were destroyed by an unknown threat. Hyrule is on the east side of the mountains. They are slightly in the south of the continent, and are part of a large collection of human kingdoms called the East Kingdoms, which used to be allied but after a serious of wars are now simply friendly, but cautious of each other. There, now that wasn't that long.

Prologue

Dirge woke up suddenly two hours before daybreak. He blinked a few times, trying to remember where he was, then immediately stood up and began getting dressed in his heavy furs. He was barely up for two minutes before he walked outside his tattered tent, and felt the freezing wind break across his face. He breathed deeply, letting the icy air fill his lungs. It was another cold day.

He looked around at the makeshift camp he was standing in. To his great surprise, he saw everybody else was already awake and working, cooking their meager breakfast, chopping fire wood, and patching up holes in the tents that ripped during the night.

Dirge walked over to the large fire in the middle of the camp, where an elderly, white haired man in his sixties sat on an old log. He was cooking what looked like sausages on a battered tray. Dirge hesitated, and then sat down next to him. The old man nodded at him cheerfully.

"I thought I would be the only one up." Dirge admitted

The old man laughed.

"Well then, pup, I guess tha' one of the first lessons you learn here. Ya never first." he explained, as he used a rusted tong to flip a sausage. Dirge smiled, before saying,

"You old men never do let age slow you. You should be sitting down, inside some old, comfortable tavern, with a mug in your hand and a fire at your feet. Instead, you're out here, days from any town worth knowing about, tending a Beacon that's never use."

The man laughed even louder at that.

"Pup, it seems that you're the one that should be there. Tha' just wouldn't be my taste. Me, being in a tavern, with a fire a' my feet and an ale in my hand? Hell, I don't think I have even tasted some ale in over ten years. But I don't worry about that. Hell, we were all given the same Choice. I'm just surprised they let you in here. Jus' cause you got an injury doesn't justify bringing a youngling into this post." he remarked, followed by a wink. Dirge smirked.

"Youngling? Well then, great Palintheran, I guess me having my hand chopped off makes no difference, I'm just not old enough!"

Palintheran laughed. He had said all of that as a joke, as Dirge well knew.

They had been talking since Dirge arrived at the Beacon yesterday. All of the men were surprise when he came to the camp. They were expecting another old man, with a crippling wound and one eye. Instead, they found Dirge, a young boy in his early twenties, with strong features and a powerful chest. His strength was almost more like a bear's then a mans. It wasn't until they saw that he was missing his right hand did they even notice that he was crippled.

The rider that brought him told the men what happened. Dirge just was a young soldier, who had barely seen any form of combat, when he lost his hand. He was picked to be a body guard to Link, half because he was a skilled recruit and half because of his size.

A few months later, Link, Dirge, and a few others were heading to Kakariko village, when they were ambushed. Even though the Gerudo thieves were getting bolder in their attacks, no one thought they would dare assault the very prince of Hyrule.

In the first second of the ambush, Link's horse was slain by an arrow through its neck. The Prince was thrown to the ground, which the Gerudos took as a sign to charge out of their hiding spots. Link would have been slaughtered in seconds, if Dirge hadn't thrown himself on top of him. For that, Dirge got a spear thrown into his leg. A large Gerudo knocked Dirge off Link, and tried to stab the dazed prince, but Dirge shoved his hand out, blocking the blow. His hand was completely severed, but it gave the other guards enough time to grab them both, and pull them back to safety. Link was barley conscious, but was soon able to stand up and fight, which made the Gerudos break and run. They soon realized that the Gerudos weren't hoping to kill off the guards. It was an assassination attempt.

When Link learned of what Dirge had done, he profusely thanked him for several minutes, before offering him a choice. Since Dirge had no possible way of serving Hyrule after that fight, Link offered him the right to live back in the castle, with a steady supply of gold, or to be placed at the Beacon outpost. Dirge accepted the second option almost at once.

The Beacon in the Iaur mountain range was one of the greatest honors a man could get. It used to be a training ground for young recruits, but long lost its original purpose. Now, it was an area where the great heroes that were no long of use to Hyrule were stationed. To be a soldier of the Beacon was an honor that most men would die for, even though it had no practical use. The Beacon system, made roughly around a thousand years ago, used to be used to send messages between the Kingdoms on the East of the Iaur mountain range to those on the West, but the West Kingdoms were destroyed a long time ago.

For a while it was used as a warning sign by the Eastern Kingdoms of a great enemy that threatened them, but soon the Eastern Kingdoms began to fight each other. Civil war broke out, with Hyrule and Ulajid leading the two major sides. Those wars made the old Beacons useless, since if an unknown enemy was coming to attack one of them, they were definitely not going to let their other enemies know about it.

However, since current peace lasted for around two centuries, Hyrule began to place men at the Beacon once more. Since Hyrule didn't have a massive army like it used to, the King decided to place the old heroes of war there instead of young recruits. Surprisingly, most peasants didn't even know the Beacon existed, since it was never used in theirs, or any ancestors that they knew, life's time. Most still don't know of it.

Palintheran suddenly snapped back to the current time when he heard the sizzling of the Sausages. I God Damn/I he thought, as he slide them off the tray onto a makeshift wooden bowl. I I am getting old/I

Dirge was already gone, chopping up wood for the fire and Beacon. Every few weeks they replaced the oldest logs in the Beacon with the newer ones, which was no easy job, since the Beacon was over fifteen meters high, and almost that long across. If it was lit, then almost all of Hyrule could see the awesome light emitting from it.

Palintheran and the rest of the men hastily ate their meager meal of sausage, and were back to work before the sun crept over the horizon. It was just another day there. Dirge was learning the ropes of the place, and soon knew of the jobs he needed to do. Because of his great physical strength, his main job was cutting the wood, breaking up stones for the knee-high wall they kept for prestige, and hunting the little game that remained on top of the mountain. Dirge, as they all guessed when they saw him, was amazing at those tasks. That night he had brought back one of the rare deer that walked along the mountain, right after he cut up an extra three days worth of firewood.

The next morning, Dirge woke up an extra hour earlier. This time, he thought, he was definitely the first awake. In the same swiftness he did the previous morning, he put on his furs, and stepped outside his tent. Just like last morning, he breathed in deeply, letting the cold air sting his lungs, and awaken his senses.

"Mornin', Dirge. See you slept in." came a creaking voice from the center of camp. Dirge hastily turned his head, looking into the dim center, and saw Palintheran, wide awake, with an armful of firewood. He dropped all of the wood on the ground, in the exact spot the fire was last time, and began to stack the pieces.

Dirge smiled, and walked over to where his friend worked. He sat down next to him, on the same log as the previous morning, and began to help him set up the fire.

"What are you doing up this early? Thought old men were supposed to sleep in." Dirge said, as he grabbed a heavy piece of wood.

"I'll sleep when I'm dead, Dirge. We gotta work hard today. Tha' bonfire behind us needs fresh wood on 'er underbelly and those barrels of oil we got are too old now. Would probably light us on fire as much as the Beacon."

"The oil should be fine, Palintheran. I've never known oil to loose its flammability. I can do the wood on the bottom of the beacon now, though. You can stay here, cook us some more breakfast." Dirge replied, stacking a last log onto the fire.

"Nah, we don' use regular oil. We got a mixture of Oil and some other liquid the alchemists make. Don't know what it's called, but after a few months the oil and liquid separate. Won' light as good. We got to make us some new mixtures. You can do that, too. I'll just cook us some more breakfast."

Dirge got up, smiling, and left to go do his work. No one else was up. Palintheran did just his word, and continued cooking their breakfast. It was sausages.

After a few minutes, Palintheran got up and went to his tent, letting the sausages shimmer in the tray. Once inside, Palintheran began to bend over to grab some of the little salt he had left in his battered trunk, softly humming an old song to himself.

All of a sudden, an immense and overwhelming red light filled the entire tent, so bright it almost blinded Palintheran, who hadn't seen any light greater then the camp fire for several decades. Palintheran let out a cry, and reflexively covered his eyes with his hands, dropping the salt. The vial fell to the hard frozen ground and shattered. The light didn't leave, and continued shinning into his tent. It took him a second to realize what was happening.

"Dirge, you god-damn fool! You set the ruddy beacon on fire!" Palintheran screamed, as he ran outside. But to his surprise, the Beacon wasn't on fire. It was just as damp from the snow as it was before. In fact, Dirge wasn't even close to the Beacon. He was too busy standing at the northern end of the camp, staring into the distance, with an awed look on his face. Other people began to wake up as well, running over to where Dirge was looking.

Palintheran ran up beside him too, and suddenly saw what the red glow was. For a moment he froze, shocked and awed by what was happening, but then remembered their entire purpose for being there.

"Dirge…" he said slowly, still staring out at the light, "Light the Beacon."

Dirge looked over at Palintheran, stunned, but Palintheran looked at him with a dead serious and slightly scared look on his face.

"Now."


	2. Chapter 1

Tairyn blinked. A second ago he was asleep, yet now he was awake. Something must have woken him up. And then Tairyn noticed something strange.

His roof was gone.

Instead of looking up at a thatched roof, he was now staring straight up at the grey sky. That itself was strange, because Hyrule rarely had a grey skies during summer. He blinked again, and then realized that his entire house was gone.

He was lying in the middle of a dirt road, surrounded by large willows. He began to sit up, and realized that he wasn't in Hyrule at all. Tairyn wondered if he was dreaming, but before he could pinch himself, he noticed a large, silver object in front of him.

He stood all the way up, and began to slowly walk to it. Almost immediately, Tairyn realized that the object was an old man. At least, that's what it looked like. He seemed to glow faintly, and his robes and beard were all silver. The robe seemed to reflect the non-existent sun into Tairyn's eyes. Tairyn blinked again, then decided he must be dreaming.

Tairyn began to walk closer to the man. If it was a dream, it was a very odd dream. He could swear that he felt the dirt beneath his boots. Was this not a dream, but witchcraft? But then he remembered that he didn't go to bed fully dressed, as he was now.

The old man in front of him didn't seem to have visible eyes, yet Tairyn felt like he was being stared down. There was something weird about the dream. It was something small, something that he couldn't find, but he knew that something was different.

And then he heard the scream.

It was feminine, yet seemed to come out of the man itself. But as Tairyn heard it, the man looked up, and Tairyn saw his eyes.

Suddenly, everything was gone. For a second there was blackness, and then the familiar sight of Tairyn's thatched roof sprang up.

"Sir?"

Tairyn blinked. Everything was out of focus, but he could tell that there was a man in his room. Tairyn's eyelashes beat away the blurriness, and then he turned his head to look at him.

The man was obviously a servant. His clothes and hair were greasy, and matted with dirt. He didn't have any shoes, showing his callused feet. He was rubbing his coarse hands together. Plus, he addressed Tairyn as sir.

"Message for you, sir."

Tairyn blinked. While he had managed to take in a visual profile of the servant, his mind was still on that dream, and the scream that woke him up.

"Who screamed?" Tairyn muttered. Light shone through his glassless windows, but he still felt like it was early in the morning.

"Screa..screamed, sir? No one was screaming." The man answered, giving Tairyn a confused look. He then quickly added,

"I have a message for you, sir."

"Where is it?" Tairyn asked, slightly embarrassed that he asked who screamed. _It was a dream, you idiot. A dream_.

"It's a speaking message, sir. You are to report to the Hyrule Castle at once, sir. The Royal King's brother asks for you."

That made Tairyn jump up, loosing any sense of tiredness, and completely shoving the dream out of his mind.

"Lord Attero? The King's brother asked for me?"

"Yes, sir. He requires your speaking skills. I'm Hwygwydd, his loyal servant." He answered dumbly. Tairyn realized that strangely the man must have taken pride that he was the servant to the King's brother. Looking closer, Tairyn could see that for some reason, the man looked scared.

Tairyn slid off of his bed, put his pants on, and then grabbed a faded blue shirt.

"Did you get the message, sir?"

Hwygwydd was still there, staring at him. He must have been waiting to be dismissed.

"Yes, I got the message, and you don't have to call me sir, Hwygwydd. I am no higher birth then you. And why are you so scared?" Tairyn replied, yanking his shirt over his body.

"Did you not see it, sir?" Hwygwydd answered back, dumbfounded. He ignored Tairyn's request to stop calling him sir.

"See what?" Tairyn asked, as he grabbed his pair of cracked, leather boots.

"Outside, sir. The light…" the servant answered, and then pointed outside Tairyn's door.

Tairyn froze. _The light? What the hell does that mean?_

Slowly, Tairyn walked over to the door, his boots now on, and then he cracked it open. Tairyn peered out, but saw nothing that seemed wrong. He pushed it open some more. Nothing.

Suddenly, he crashed into his door, slamming it open. For a split second he still saw nothing wrong, but then his eyes caught the light.

A large, blazing fire was burning on the Iaur mountain range. A mountain was on fire. Or at least, it looked like it. How could anything else explain where the light came from? It was daylight, and the Iaur mountain range was several scores of miles away, yet they could still see the light.

Tairyn stared at it. What could have possibly caused such a thing? An entire mountain on fire?

"Hwygwydd, why did Attero want me?" Tairyn asked, his eyes perplexed by the fire.

No one answered. Ripping his eyes away, Tairyn saw that Hwygwydd was gone. He had run off.

Was this why Lord Attero summoned him? It might have been, although Tairyn couldn't tell why. He was a translator, and that was it. He did have some small skill with a bow, as most men did, but if Attero wanted an archer, why didn't he just send for one of the actual longbow men?

There was no use if thinking about it. He would just have to get there and find out. Tairyn began to walk to the Hyrule Castle, which towered over everything else in the city.

It was not a far walk, but Tairyn constantly stopped, glanced at the large fire, and then start walking again. Most people of the town were staring at it too, wondering what it was. Several people swore that it was dragons, while others claimed that Din herself had landed on the mountain range. It made Tairyn nervous, although he mainly shrugged it off. He did not need to listen to peasant gossip.

It was another five minutes before he reached the large, curtain wall that surrounded the castle. There were two, large metal gates, that were lifted upwards, followed by a gigantic oak gate. If the castle was ever attack, the two metal gates would be lifted, and once the enemy was at the actual gate, the two gates would be closed, trapping them inside.

Those two gates were lifted now, and the narrow passage under the wall that led to the third gate was only guarded by two, burly guardsmen. They wore polished plate armor, and fancy, polished helmet, that contained two large wings that spread outwards, the symbol of the Hyral dynasty. Each carried a large, red longbow, along with a spear, which was attached to their back.

As Tairyn approached, they pushed the top of their longbows in between them, creating an X in his path.

"What is your business inside these grounds?" The guard on the right said, his voice incredibly deep

"Lord Attero summoned me. I am Tairyn, the translator of Hylch."

He tried to make himself sound impressive, but he doubted that it worked. The guards just stared at him for over a minute. He was uncomfortable, but did not know what to say. Maybe he should mention Hwygwydd?

"Hwygwydd was th-"

"You may pass" the left guard said, interrupting Tairyn. They pulled their longbows back to the upright position.

Tairyn nodded, and then began to walk inside. He paused in front of the closed Oak gate, not sure what to do, but then the gate opened without a word from the guards.

"You are Tairyn?" said a voice close to him. Looking around, Tairyn saw that it was another guard, although this one did not look as impressive as the ones guarding the gate.

"Yes, I am. Lord Attero …" Tairyn was again cut off, as the guard then hastily said,

"Yes, yes, I know. Follow me."

The guard began to walk to the large keep. Tairyn hurriedly ran after him, not wanted to be confronted by the guards again.

They walked to another gate, which was once again opened without a word from anyone. Inside was a large, stone hallway, with a long stretch of red carpet spread across the floor. On the walls were many skilled paintings, mostly showing religious scenes, but a few showed famous battles, or prominent Kings.

There was a door at the end of the hallway, along with many separate entrances on the side of the walls. Tairyn and the guard walked into one of the left, which led to a stairway. They walked up the curving path, to enter into another hallway, with another door, and another stairway.

Tairyn lost track of where he was going, and simply followed the guard. None of them said a word, until after a few minutes, they reached another hallway, although this one only had one door at the end. There was another carpet, but this one was blue, with gold threads at the end. There were also paintings, but they just showed historic battles or famous kings. The door at the end was huge, decorated with many carvings of religious scenes.

"The Lord Attero waits for you in there." The guard said, and then walked away.

Tairyn was nervous. He was about to meet a Lord, the brother of the King. He had never even seen Lord Attero. The only nobleman he had seen was Prince Link during a speech, but that was over a year ago. Tairyn suddenly realized that he was wearing nothing but simple peasant clothes, with no jewelry or anything fancy on him.

But, surely Attero did not expect him to be fancy? After all, Tairyn was not above peasants. He made up his mind. Gritting his teeth, Tairyn waked to the door, and opened it.

The door led to a circular room. In the middle of the room was a hefty wooden table, finely polished. The room had windows that were covered by large, crimson drapes. The floor was once again carpeted, although this time with red and gold. There were two men sitting at the table, both looking incredibly rich and powerful. One of them looked up at Tairyn.

"Ah, Tairyn! At least, I presume that it is you. I do not see why my guards would let anyone else enter."

The man was tall, broad, and was handsome. He had long black hair, that he held in place with red ribbons. He had a silver circlet around his head, and wore a rich, red, wool vest. His face had a huge smile on it. Tairyn paused, not sure what to say, but then decided on,

"Yes."

He felt like punching himself.

"Good, good. Hwygwydd means well, but sometimes he grabs the wrong person. Not too smart, that one. Please, sit down."

Attero gestured to an empty chair at the table. Tairyn froze, and then walked over and took his seat.

Tairyn looked at the other man, who was busy writing something. He had long, blond hair, blue eyes, and wore a green vest, much like Attero's. His face was also incredibly handsome, much more then Attero's. The man then looked up at Tairyn, and he realized that it was Prince Link.

"You are the translator?" Link said, staring at him. He did not have the smile that Attero had, but instead had a much more serious face.

"Yes." Tairyn said again. His tongue seemed to have glued itself to his jaw.

"Ah, good. Do you want anything? Hungry? We will be here a while." Link said, and suddenly his face switched. He had a smile, and his face seemed like he was actually happy that Tairyn was there, as if they were old friends.

"No, I'm fine." Tairyn said, uncomfortable with Link's face.

"You sure? We will be here for some time." Link said, with his face now full of concern. Tairyn would have thought that Link was faking his look, if it wasn't for his eyes. They seemed to invite him to confidence, and seemed to tell him that Link meant good.

"I'm sure, thank you." Tairyn replied; glad that he could now put several words together.

"Alright then. Let's get to business. Attero, do you wish to explain first? I have to finish this." Link said, pointing to his writing.

"Sure, sure, nephew." Attero said happily, as Link dipped his quill into a bottle of Ink, and began to write again.

"Now then, Tairyn, I assume that you have seen the fire?" Attero asked

"Yes." Tairyn said, although puzzled that Attero would ask him about that. What would he know about it?

"It is no fire. It is a beacon. Have you heard of the beacon system?" Attero asked again, his smile now fading, to be replaced by a more serious look.

"Beacon? No, I have not." Tairyn replied, although still puzzled. Why was there a beacon?

"Very well, then. Around a thousand years ago, give or take a few hundred, Hyrule was in contact with the Kingdoms across of the Iaur mountain range. We set up the beacon system to send messages, although it was rarely used. We had certain birds, which were trained to fly to great amounts of light. We would tie our messages to the bird, and so send it on its way. However, Western Kingdoms were destroyed some hundred years ago. We do not know why, nor is it important."

Link brought his head up to look at Attero for a second, but then went back to writing. Attero ignored him, and continued.

"We then adapted the beacon system for use amongst ourselves, the Southern Kingdoms. We used it to send messages, or to call for aid from other countries. This was when we were at peace. However, as you know, we have not had peace for several hundred of years. Because of this, the beacon became useless. We decided to use it as a place to put our old veterans, and it soon became a thing of honor. To be a Warrior of the Beacon is a gift that most warriors would die for. And trust me, many do die for it." Attero said, his face now grim. He scratched behind his left ear, and then continued.

"And now the beacon is lit again. Why? We do not know. As you most definitely know, Hyrule is at the northern tip of the Southern Kingdoms. And yet none of the other kingdoms have lit their beacons, and we gave no order to light our own."

Link finished writing during Attero's explanation, and now added,

"We do not know why it was lit, but we have several theories. The most prominent among them is that the beacon was accidentally lit. Others claim that they must have seen something, and so thought that it was another beacon. We do not know for sure, and that is where you come in. If another beacon was lit, they would have sent a message. Your job will be to translate it."

Tairyn froze. He could not find anything to say. Him? Just himself?

"You will not, however, go alone. I assume that you have heard of the Gerudo's failed attempt on Prince Link's life?" Attero asked, leaning back in his chair.

"I have heard rumors." Tairyn said. He was glad that he was not alone, but he still felt like something was off.

"The Gerudos are getting too rowdy. Their activity has been increasing, and recently we had reason to believe that they have infiltrated us." Attero said.

"We had some suspicion that they had planted a spy amongst us for a while, but we had no definite proof until the assassination attempt on my life." Link said, rolling up the parchment he wrote on, and then continued, "I did not ride out with banners and trumpets blazing. Yet they still knew exactly were I was going, and were I was at the time. I would have been killed if it was not for one brave recruit, who is now actually at the Beacon."

"And now we have reason to think that they might try and reach the beacon before us. Whoever the spy is would have surely would have told them about it, and they will probably learn that we are sending out a messenger to reach it. And so, you will go with around two score of soldiers. Half of them are Longbow men, and the other half men-at-arms. You will be well protected. In fact, that is what Link is writing now" Attero explained, and suddenly he smiled again.

"Do not worry, Tairyn. We doubt that you will find any resistance. The guards are just there incase someone gets a little too bold."

Tairyn did not say anything. He was stunned, and simply sat there. Attero's smile turned into a frown at Tairyn's silence, but Link's face was one of patience. It took Tairyn several minutes of awkward silence, before he asked,

"Whe..when will I leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, probably. Maybe in the afternoon? We do not know for sure. I trust that you have some skill with the bow? We can equip you with one, along with some armor, if you wish. Not that we expect you to need them. However, we can deal with that later. I am now afraid that we come to the tedious part." Link said, and pulled out another piece of paper.

It was tedious, and took several hours. Link read each and every name of the men that would be going with Tairyn, to make sure that he was no quarrel with them. After that, Attero pulled out some more pieces of paper, and made Tairyn translate them. He would then check the translations with another sheet of the words in Hylian. He would then make Tairyn translate words from Hylian into other languages.

Around halfway thought the ordeal, Hwygwydd came into the room, carrying several plates of food. Even though Tairyn said before that he did not want anything, he found that he had a plate anyways. Tairyn ate it, and was surprised at the flavor. While the meal was only bread, ham, and some wine, the bread was cooked with honey, while the ham was baked with herbs and rare salt.

It took over five hours before Tairyn was done. After the translations, Attero gave him a speech that took over twenty minutes, mainly about how important his mission was. He was then taken out of the room, and placed into the practice grounds, where several archers were waiting for him. They gave him a bow, and then tested his skill. He had no shot a bow in over three years, and forgot the strength needed. The bow required over 100 pounds of strength to pull the string back with one hand, and Tairyn was a little ashamed that he lost the strength, for the Longbow was Hyrule's chief weapon. Hyrule alone was able to produce the thousands of bowmen needed to bring kingdoms to their knees. A trained archer could hit a man from over 200 yards away, with enough force to pierce the strongest mail. Only the new plate armor could deflect arrows, and plate was incredibly expensive and rare.

It took Tairyn over an hour before he could hit a target 150 yards away, and the archer's decided that it was satisfactory. It wasn't until then that Tairyn could leave.

He walked back to his house. The beacon was still lit, and in the growing darkness, Tairyn could make out some individual flames.

He fell asleep the second he landed on his bed.


	3. Chapter2

The sun crept slowly up over the empty window sill, flooding Tairyn's room with light. It took around an hour, but the light finally hit Tairyn's eyes, shining through his black lids, stirring him back to life.

He groaned, felt how sore his muscles were, and then rolled to his side so he could sleep in peace. It worked for around ten minutes, until his door slammed open.

Tairyn jumped at the noise, and immediately rolled off of his bed. He stood up and turned towards the invader, still dressed in his last day's clothes.

In front of him was a regular-sized man, broad, and clothed in a white linen shirt, over which he placed a polished mail coat, which he then had another shirt over it. The last shirt was black, and seemed rich, although Tairyn could not quite tell why. The hems were straight, you couldn't see threads hanging out, and it looked clean, something that was rare for the average man. His hair was recently cut, and as black as his shirt. He wore a large gold chain around his neck.

It was obvious to Tairyn that he had another visitor from the Royal family

"Are you Tairyn Bumgarner?" The man asked in a semi-deep voice, looking down at a piece of paper he was holding that Tairyn hadn't notice before.

"Its Bachmier." Tairyn said uncertainly. Even though he spent all of yesterday with the Prince and the Lord Attero, he was uncomfortable talking to royalty. And the man's clothes showed him being connected to nobility.

"Bachmier? Ah, now I can sort of make it out. You'll have to forgive me, Hwygwydd wrote this. He barely knows how to write his own language, let alone more civilized ones. You should see how he writes his name, it doesn't even make any sense. He was the one that talked to you yesterday morning, right? Didn't try to bite you, did he?"

"Bite me?" Tairyn asked, not quite sure what to make of the question.

"It was just a joke. Not very funny, I guess. Hwygwydd means well, he just isn't very bright. Course, that's nothing unexpected of the Burganii tribes. Not quite sure why my Father keeps him around."

"You are Lord Attero's son?" Tairyn asked, now even more uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I am. Bastard born, though, so it doesn't mean much. I think he has a few other bastard sons running around somewhere, but I've never seen them. I'm Ankalogan, by the way. I don't think I've mentioned that yet. You'll have to forgive me, I'm not too use to addressing the upper class. I was raised in Kokori, and there are no nobles there worth a damn. Father never tried to raise me as a Lord's son. Besides a few visits to our manor and a steady supply of gold, he never paid much attention."

"I'm not a noble."

"What? Are you sure? Damn, Hwygwydd labeled you as one. Ah, wait, now I see the arrow he drew. Well then, that makes everything easier. I was wondering why you lived in this place. No offence."

"What's the list?" Tairyn decided to ask. He was caught off guard by the demeanor of Ankalogan, and wouldn't have realized he was in the upper class if it wasn't for his clothes.

"Names of the people I'm supposed to talk to. You're the last one. Father decided that I was to lead this little expedition to the Beacon, but there is no way in hell that I'm going to take charge. I'll just give charge to Captain Germanicus, since he will actually know what the hell he's doing. Now, you're the translator, right?"

"Yes, I am." Tairyn replied, now nervous as well as uncomfortable. As Ankalogan checked off something on the paper, Tairyn realized he had barely said anything,.

"When are we leaving?" He asked, both so Ankalogan knew that Tairyn was capable of speech, and so he would know.

"We were supposed to leave a few hours ago, but the Lord King wanted more time to prepare, and so we are looking at leaving in around three hours. Makes our jobs easier, since it gives the drunks more time to recover from their night. And trust me, if you want to find a drunk, find a soldier. Half of them are groaning in the barrack courtyard, while the other half are still passed out. I was with him, until we realized that no one told you where to be, or when." Ankalogan answered, folding the paper and placing it into his pocket.

"So, you are here to bring me to the courtyard, and then we march out?" Tairyn asked.

"That's what the plan looks like" Ankalogan said, his eyes roaming around Tairyn's house, and then resting on a book that was on a crooked table.

"I'm guessing you can read?" Ankalogan asked, nodding at the book.

"Wouldn't be much of a translator if I couldn't" Tairyn replied.

"Ah, that would make sense. It's always good to be able to read. Makes you more intelligent, as they say. Never did too much for me. Alright, then. Are ready to move out?" Ankalogan said, looking back at Tairyn.

"I would be, but I haven't eaten anything yet. You woke me up when you entered." Tairyn answered, wondering why he didn't knock.

"Sorry bout that. No matter on the breakfast, though. We should have some provisions at the barracks. People don't eat breakfast when they aren't awake." Ankalogan said.

"Will I need to bring anything?" Tairyn asked

"Jus the clothes you have on. We have your supplies already, along with a longbow and quiver that Prince Link ordered for you."

Tairyn nodded, and followed Ankalogan out of his house. The beacon was now just a tiny smolder on the mountain, and was almost impossible to see. He was amazed that the fire was able to last for an entire day.

"Do you know Link?" Ankalogan asked, unexpectedly, as they turned around one of the many winding corners.

"Not really, no. I've heard much more then I know. Besides yesterday, we have never talked to each other." Tairyn said, taken aback by the question.

"But you are the town translator, yes? Surely you have met with him before yesterday?" Ankalogan said.

"There was another translator besides me. He died a few days ago, I think. I was only his replacement." Tairyn explained.

"Ah, that explains it. Well then, it looks like you know him as well as I do, although I know more then I hear. My Father talked about him greatly on the rare visits he paid me and my mother." Ankalogan said.

"What would he say?"

"Oh, this and that. Usually good things, about how he will make a good King, or that we couldn't ask for a better heir. But sometimes he would complain, mainly about the skirmishes and border wars with Kallieva and their allies. Seems Link has a very chivalric view about war, despite the fact that he has never fought in one. Did you know that even though he has commanded the frontiers for the last two years, he has never killed a man before that assassination attempt? Not that he's a coward; he just never got off his horse and joined the men. Lord Attero, however, has been in the heat of the battle more then once. Hell, more then tenfold that number. He has seen the actual wars, not the poems made by bards that have never stepped outside their house. And that's the main thing he has against the Prince. Link always orders for a pitched battle, even if our archers can take them out with hit and run tactics with much smaller casualties. He is even against the Longbow in warfare, preferring to fight 'gloriously on horseback'."

"Besides that, however, he seems to be a great person. I was just wondering if you knew anything about him that didn't deal in death and politics. Guess not."

"I thought Chivalry was supposed to be the predominant factor in fights." Tairyn said.

"Chivalry is something made up by the bards and poets. It just sounded good, so we stole it. It is nothing more then propaganda. People don't want to hear that we managed to kill the famous Kallievan champion from two hundred yards away, before he even knew we were there. They want to hear of us riding in gallantly on horseback, fighting desperate battles for the mutual peace of all. They aren't interested in the political scope of it. Link, however, seems to be trying to blend them together. I doubt it will work out, though. Hyrule would be nothing but a land for cheap slave labor if it wasn't for the longbow. Hell, Link would have died in that assassination attempt if it wasn't for the longbow."

"So chivalry never existed?" Tairyn said, slightly taken aback.

"I never said that. It exists sometimes. Every warrior wants to do the glorious battle scene, riding in on horseback to certain death, only to fight so bravely that they won. The thing is, they don't need to. They can slaughter the enemy from a distance. Why would they have to risk their lives when we can win with nothing but pieces of wood? Powys, Thrent, and even Kallieva are known for being chivalric. That is why they are pissed at us. Their greatest warriors can be taken down by a simple peasant. Powys was the only one of them that had any brains, and that's why they are allied with us. And now look at the others." Ankalogan explained, as they turned onto another street.

"If they are so angry at the longbow, why don't they take it? Hyrule isn't the only place with yew wood. It does take a long time to master the weapon, but we've been using it against them for over fifty years. That's more then enough time to gather an army of them." Tairyn asked.

"Aye, but they are still stuck in their brainwashed minds." Ankalogan answered "Chivalry never existed until the poets made it, and those countries sucked it up. Now they actually believe it, and they won't turn back. They are thinking that they will beat us without stooping down to our level. Of course, that didn't stop them from buying crossbows from Lansgarad to the north. Bloody useless things. They can shoot farther, but not as accurate, powerful, or fast as the Longbow. Expensive, too. The dwarves made a very good profit from those sells."

They turned around a street and entered a large outdoor market. The nose of the haggling and orders drowned out their conversation, making them have to wait the five minutes it took them to weave in and our of the crowd, before Ankalogan continued.

"They take a few souls, the crossbows. If they came into existence fifty years ago they might have been more useful. But not now. By the way, how long did it take you to be able to shoot a longbow? I'm just curious."

"To shoot it? An afternoon. To shoot it well enough to hit a target? My entire adolescence. It was a back up skill, incase my apprenticeship failed. I was trained to hit animals, though. Not people."

"Not much difference between them. One has two legs, the other four." Ankalogan joked.

The rest of their trip passed in silence. They walked through the bustling streets of Hylch, until they began to enter the poorer parts of the town. It was at the end of these areas that the main barracks sat. It was built recently, in an attempt to police the slums, but so far it had done nothing then serve as a pretty sight.

Tairyn saw them when they reached the last street.

The barracks themselves were large, stone buildings, filled with bed spreads and tables. There was another building close to it, made of the limestone, which held the kitchens where the servants worked. Another building that was connected to the main Barracks held the weapons and armory, along with the blacksmiths and fletchers needed to supply the city's guards.

Outside the buildings was a large courtyard, which held a large fountain in the center, and was surrounded by a short brick wall. The back part of the barracks sat directly against the eastern walls of the city.

There was a loud shout from within the walls, followed by the sound of vomiting.

"That's the sound of the men that will lead Hyrule to glory." Ankalogan laughed.

They walked towards the courtyard gate, which was guarded by a snoring soldier, only wearing half of his gear, and none of his weapons.

"Germanicus?" Ankalogan yelled over the wall. The sleeping soldier didn't budge.

There was a pause, a shifting of bolts, and then the gate opened, letting Tairyn see a middle-age, broad, bald man.

"Ankalogan? Why didn't Peter let you in? Oh God damnit, he passed out again. Wake up, you useless bastard! I give you one job!" said the same voice that was yelling before, as he cuffed the sleeping soldier. The man gave a start, but Germanicus hit him again, and began yelling at him even louder.

Ankalogan beckoned Tairyn inside the courtyard, pass the drunken soldier and the furious Germanicus. Inside was not much better.

Men were either lying on the ground, sleeping or moaning, or crouched over and vomiting in the fountain. The beacon had made most of them nervous, and in being soldiers, they knew the best way to become comfortable was to drink as much as possible. By the time the order came that they were to march out the next day, most of them were already out in taverns. By the time the news hit them, half weren't sober enough to understand what words meant.

There were a few soldiers that didn't drink, however. They were mostly the ones that were sharpening their weapons, or packing things into sacks. There were only around six of them, but they seemed able to do what the passed out ones couldn't.

Germanicus came back in behind them a few seconds later, slamming the gate shut.

"God damn them all! First time trouble comes up, they all get drunk. A score of sober men could have laid this town to waste." He yelled, before adding in a much softer tone;

"That the translator?"

"Yes, I am. I'm Tairyn." Tairyn replied quickly, answering for Ankalogan.

"Good, good. Nice to see that you aren't shit faced like the rest of them." Germanicus replied, looking over at the pathetic scene.

"I guess we won't be able to set off in the destined time, then?" Ankalogan asked.

"Doubt it, unless you want all of the soldiers to end up marching into the crater of Death Mountain without realizing it. Give it until mid afternoon, and they will be well enough to walk a few miles."

Germanicus gave them over to one of the sober soldiers, named Irmin. He showed them to where they were getting the packs ready, where they should go to sharpen or polish any of their gear, and then (to Tairyn's delight), he showed them to the kitchens. They ate breakfast there, consisting mainly of apples. Luckily for them, the Cook was able to recover faster then the others.

After that, Irmin showed them to the weapon store, and gave Tairyn his bow. It was like most Hylian bows: 6 feet tall, smooth, and, if perfectly crafted (as it was), formed a D when bent. Hylian fletchers took great pride in their bows, even though the finished product (including this one) was nothing fancy. Some of the younger archers would paint their weapons, but most of the grizzled veterans kept their bow plain. The yew bow was simply a killing tool, and nothing more. That was what Tairyn learned when he was training with it, and the lessons began to flood back to him. He pulled on the string, straining to lift back the hundred pounds of pressure. When he brought it up to his ear, he let go. There was a crack as the string snapped back to its original place. He was glad that he could still do it without too much effort.

The rest of that day past without much happening. By the time sun hit mid-day, only half of them were well enough to march. Germanicus had tired himself out from hitting and screaming at them for the entire morning, and so he decided he would go eat something, and let them moan by themselves.

Ankalogan and Tairyn were sitting with their backs to the Eastern Wall when Germanicus left, as they had been for the last few hours. Without much to do, they talked throughout most of the day. Tairyn soon found that he rather liked Ankalogan. They mainly talked about what Ankalogan knew of the politics, or of the Beacon, or why they thought it was lit. None of them had anything new to tell each other about it, since Ankalogan only knew what Attero told him, and Attero never mentioned much about it to him.

It wasn't until there were only a few hours left of sunlight that Germanicus came back out of the Barracks. He was now wearing full armor. It wasn't as expensive as Ankalogan's, but just as practical. He wore a rather dull mail coat over a red tunic, but his mail was heavy and stronger then most. His Pilla was held on his back, while his Gladius was sheathed in its wooden scabbard. On his head was a red iron helmet, carved with the religious symbol of the triforce on its front. On his back was fastened a red cloak.

"All right, you hung-over bastards, its time to move! We leave within the half-hour! Get up and ready, or I swear to the gods that I will beat you until you don't realize you are being beaten!"


End file.
